TB prevention activities in the WHO European Region.

Background: TB preventive treatment (TPT) is the primary available healthcare intervention to reduce the risk of progression from TB infection to TB disease. The WHO Regional Office for Europe established the European Prevention and Systematic Screening Initiative to End TB (PASS) to scale up activities related to the programmatic management of TPT. In the absence of a system to measure and monitor preventive activities, a baseline assessment survey was carried out to provide a reference to monitor the scale-up of the intervention.

Health system responsiveness to the mental health needs of Syrian refugees: mixed-methods rapid appraisals in eight host countries in Europe and the Middle East.

Background: Syrian refugees have a high burden of mental health symptoms and face challenges in accessing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS). This study assesses health system responsiveness (HSR) to the MHPSS needs of Syrian refugees, comparing countries in Europe and the Middle East to inform recommendations for strengthening MHPSS systems.

Methods: A mixed-methods rapid appraisal methodology guided by an adapted WHO Health System Framework was used to assess HSR in eight countries (Egypt, Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and Türkiye).

Photon counting CT clinical adoption, integration, and workflow.

Photon counting CT was recently introduced into clinical practice [Rajendran K, Petersilka M, Henning A, Shanblatt ER, Schmidt B, Flohr TG, Ferrero A, Baffour F, Diehn FE, Yu L, Rajiah P, Fletcher JG, Leng S, McCollough CH. First Clinical Photon-counting Detector CT System: Technical Evaluation. Radiology 2022;303(1):130-138.

Prioritizing research needs and opportunities at the intersection of implementation science and engagement science.

Background: There has been increased attention to the need for, and the positive impact of, engaged or participatory science in recent years. Implementation scientists have an opportunity to leverage and contribute to engagement science (ES) through the systematic integration of engagement into implementation science (IS). The purpose of this study was to gather information from researchers and others to develop a prioritized list of research needs and opportunities at the intersection of IS and ES.

Student-led Doctor of Nursing Practice projects in the clinical environment: Viewpoint from hospital-based nurse scientists and leaders.

Background: Exponential increases in Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program enrollment have come with a rapid rise in the number of capstone projects conducted in clinical environments. However, misaligned priorities between students, faculty, and clinician leaders have created significant challenges.

Purpose: Identify opportunities to strengthen collaboration between academic and clinical stakeholders to better support DNP projects and education.

The Rise of Virtual Health Care: Transforming the Health Care Landscape in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Review Article.

The rise of virtual healthcare underscores the transformative influence of digital technologies in reshaping the healthcare landscape. As technology advances and the global demand for accessible and convenient healthcare services escalates, the virtual healthcare sector is gaining unprecedented momentum. Saudi Arabia, with its ambitious Vision 2030 initiative, is actively embracing digital innovation in the healthcare sector.

Ambient air pollution and daily mortality in ten cities of India: a causal modelling study.

Background: The evidence for acute effects of air pollution on mortality in India is scarce, despite the extreme concentrations of air pollution observed. This is the first multi-city study in India that examines the association between short-term exposure to PM and daily mortality using causal methods that highlight the importance of locally generated air pollution.

Methods: We applied a time-series analysis to ten cities in India between 2008 and 2019.

Collaborative discussions between GPs and pharmacists to optimise patient medication: a qualitative study within a UK primary care clinical trial.

Background: There has been significant investment in pharmacists working in UK general practice to improve the effective and safe use of medicines. However, evidence of how to optimise collaboration between GPs and pharmacists in the context of polypharmacy (multiple medication) is lacking.

Aim: To explore GP and pharmacist views and experiences of in-person, interprofessional collaborative discussions (IPCDs) as part of a complex intervention to optimise medication use for patients with polypharmacy in general practice.

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by diabetic retinopathy: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020.

Objectives: To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by diabetic retinopathy and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals.

Methods: Data from population-based studies on eye diseases between 1980 to 2018 were compiled. Meta-regression models were performed to estimate the prevalence of blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60) and moderate or severe vision impairment (MSVI; <6/18 to ≥3/60) attributed to DR.

What is the economic and social return on investment for telephone cancer information and support services in Australia? An evaluative social return on investment study protocol.

Introduction: Over 50% of people affected by cancer report unmet support needs. To address unmet information and psychological needs, non-government organisations such as Cancer Councils (Australia) have developed state-based telephone cancer information and support services. Due to competing demands, evidence of the value of these services is needed to ensure that future investment makes the best use of scarce resources.

What are the experiences, preparation, and support needs of early career clinical educators within an Australian tertiary health service?: a qualitative study.

Background: There is increasing demand for professional practice placement opportunities, supported by health professional educators, to enable future health workforce development. Early career health professionals performing the educator role is one strategy that can help meet this demand. However, there is a need to consider how best to prepare and support early career health professionals to become educators.

Gender Differences in Family Caregiving. Do female caregivers do more or undertake different tasks?

Background: Two out of three family caregivers are female. However, current trends show that men are more likely to undertake caregiving duties, yet female caregivers report a higher burden. This paper analyzed data from long-term family caregivers to determine whether, under similar circumstances, gender differences in caregiving persist.

Using a smartwatch and smartphone to assess early Parkinson's disease in the WATCH-PD study over 12 months.

Digital measures may provide objective, sensitive, real-world measures of disease progression in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, multicenter longitudinal assessments of such measures are few. We recently demonstrated that baseline assessments of gait, tremor, finger tapping, and speech from a commercially available smartwatch, smartphone, and research-grade wearable sensors differed significantly between 82 individuals with early, untreated PD and 50 age-matched controls.

Assessing capacities to strengthen intersectoral collaboration in Territorial Public Health Councils in the Republic of Moldova.

Background: The government of the Republic of Moldova, endorsed the principle of Health in All Policies (HiAP) through its health sector reforms to address the rising burden of non-communicable diseases and health inequalities. Territorial Public Health Councils (TPHCs) were created to ensure the coordination and management of the population's health in their respective district. This study assessed the capacities of the TPHCs to identify areas in need of support for strengthening their intersectoral collaboration role in public health at local level.

The 2023 Latin America report of the Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for health-centred climate-resilient development.

In 2023, a series of climatological and political events unfolded, partly driving forward the global climate and health agenda while simultaneously exposing important disparities and vulnerabilities to climate-related events. On the policy front, a significant step forward was marked by the inaugural Health Day at COP28, acknowledging the profound impacts of climate change on health. However, the first-ever Global Stocktake showed an important gap between the current progress and the targets outlined in the Paris Agreement, underscoring the urgent need for further and decisive action.

The state of health in the European Union (EU-27) in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease study 2019.

Background: The European Union (EU) faces many health-related challenges. Burden of diseases information and the resulting trends over time are essential for health planning. This paper reports estimates of disease burden in the EU and individual 27 EU countries in 2019, and compares them with those in 2010.

Advocacy, experience sharing and action planning toward raising additional financing for primary health care: spending more and spending better towards universal health coverage.

Background: Reallocation of funding to respond the covid-19 pandemic, against a backdrop of longstanding underfunded health systems and high out of pocket expenditures for health, affected access to health services for households, especially those without social protection. These highlighted the urgency in curbing the impact of disruptions on progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals. Strategic investments in Primary Health Care (PHC) can help spur the necessary momentum.

Primary mental healthcare for adults with mild intellectual disabilities: Patients' perspectives.

Background: People with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) experience more mental health (MH) problems than the general population but often do not receive appropriate primary MH care. Primary MH care is essential in integrative MH care and, therefore, demands high quality. To improve primary MH care for this patient group, account must be taken of the experiences of people with MID.

Remission and low disease activity are associated with lower healthcare costs: results from the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) inception cohort.

Objectives: This study aims to determine the independent impact of definitions of remission/low disease activity (LDA) on direct/indirect costs (DCs, ICs) in a multicentre inception cohort.

Methods: Patients from 31 centres in 10 countries were enrolled within 15 months of diagnosis and assessed annually. Five mutually exclusive disease activity states (DAS) were defined as (1) remission off-treatment: clinical (c) SLEDAI-2K=0, without prednisone/immunosuppressants; (2) remission on-treatment: cSLEDAI-2K=0, prednisone ≤5 mg/day and/or maintenance immunosuppressants; (3) LDA-Toronto Cohort (TC): cSLEDAI-2K≤2, without prednisone/immunosuppressants; (4) modified lupus LDA state (mLLDAS): SLEDAI-2K≤4, no activity in major organs/systems, no new activity, prednisone ≤7.

Don't wait for the perfect moment: The national training program in family medicine in Angola.

Like many Sub-Saharan countries, Angola struggles with a shortage of trained health professionals, especially for primary care. In 2021, the Angolan Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Angolan Medical Council launched the National Program for the Expansion of Family Medicine as a long-term strategy for the provision, fixation and training of family physicians in community health centres. Of the 425 residents 411 (96.

Examining relationships between adverse childhood experiences and coping during the cost-of-living crisis using a national cross-sectional survey in Wales, UK.

Objectives: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can affect individuals' resilience to stressors and their vulnerability to mental, physical and social harms. This study explored associations between ACEs, financial coping during the cost-of-living crisis and perceived impacts on health and well-being.

Design: National cross-sectional face-to-face survey.